Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), David Oistrakh (Conductor), Yehudi Menuhin (Conductor), Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (September 21, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: BBC Legends
• ASIN: B00000K2FB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,495 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Symphonies > Sinfonia Concertante

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Recorded live at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1963, this disc brings together three superb artists for two extraordinary performances. In Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, with Menuhin conducting, Igor Oistrakh on violin sounds bright and radiant, his father, David, on viola dark and warm; with great charm, brilliance, and obvious mutual enjoyment, they play to and off each other in questioning, diverging phrases that come together in triumphant, ecstatic affirmation. Weaving a tapestry of transparent lines, they bring out Mozart's mercurial moods from devil-may-care exuberance and soaring lyricism to despairing lamentation. With David Oistrakh conducting, Menuhin plays the Beethoven concerto. Though he no longer had complete mastery of fingers and bow, the buoyancy of his rhythm, the incandescent intensity of his tone, and his deeply personal expressiveness were undiminished. The second movement is simply heavenly: very slow, calm, serene, inward, with a floating, disembodied air, absolutely perfect in tone, tempo, mood, it finally fades into the distance like a dream. His 1947 recording with the Luzern Festival Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler (Testament STB 1109) offers a fascinating comparison. Here, his technique is impeccable, smooth, effortless, and, except for the truly incomparable slow movement of 1963, his playing is no less beautiful in tone and moving in expression. As was customary at the time but is rare today, Furtwängler constantly changes tempo along with character and dynamics; however, he was famous for his ability to make such liberties sound entirely natural and organic. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Recording of a Century, March 14, 2003

By 

Anton Dam (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante (Audio CD)

This is perhaps the greatest recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante around, equaled only by the Perlman/Zukerman recording and even that is a maybe. The playin contrasts two ages of the violin, the great age of Heifetz, Milstein, Menuhin and David Oistrakh in contrast to that of Kremer, Perlman, Zukerman and Igor Oistrakh. The first is a style of incredible freedom, personality and expression combined with aged discipline. The latter, is a playing with the strictest discipline imaginable, yet that of a warm romantic tone. The interpretation of the Beethoven Concerto by this declining Menuhin is maybe the last time the world saw the true greatness of this ultimate prodigy. The playing of the first movement is filled with a drama that touches your very heart, as does the second. The third is a exceptionally classical interpretation. Overall, the Beethoven is played with a warm, remarkably free, and somewhat reminiscent of Georges Enescu. Though there are some minute problems with technique, which many this cold day would scorn, the musicality and heart displayed here is perhaps only equaled by the greatest recording's of Bach's Chaconne.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful but bad recording, April 19, 2006

By 

Jensen William Parr (Richmond College, Va USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante (Audio CD)

The violin never sounded better and this is one of Beethoven's finest Violin concertos with the masters playing at their zenith, but the recording sounds like it was done in 1950, the technology now is so much better that it's much finer with a newer recording.